As we all saw this past holiday season, smart speakers large and small were all the rage. Personal assistant products like the Amazon Echo and Google Home were flying off the shelves. In fact, Amazon reported that the product they sold most was the Echo Dot.
And it doesn’t end there, apparently, Amazon also sold “tens of millions” of Alexa-supported devices from other brands. Even Alexa herself was front and center as the star of Amazon’s $15MM ad during this year’s Super Bowl.It’s pretty safe to say that the era of voice-control, virtual-assistant, home-automation, is upon us and consumers have embraced it in a major way.
It’s pretty safe to say that the era of voice-control, virtual-assistant, home-automation, is upon us and consumers have embraced it in a major way.
How did all this become so mainstream? I believe the motivation behind it ultimately points to our desire for control. Whether we’re all just time-starved or control freaks (or both), we’re gravitating towards tech that can bring us real-time information along with the ability to control different functions from one place. With devices like the Google Home or Apple HomePod, this is now possible. It’s being able to switch on lights, stream songs, set reminders, order food, call an Uber, just by your voice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like this desire didn’t exist before, but it’s clear that we’ve finally arrived at an intersection where the technology is now accessible, affordable, and approachable, making it possible to meet this need.
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